At LCBC, movie month brings new perspective

Kevin Mahan, LCBC community life director, poses with one of the Lego displays for movie month at LCBC. (Photos by Suzette Wenger)

You’ve heard of dinner and a movie. How about church and a movie?

As part of its July worship services, LCBC campuses are again hosting “At the Movies.”

Each of the 12 campuses creates its own theme. This year, the main LCBC campus in Manheim is featuring the Lego movies with large sets throughout the megachurch.

Those entering the church lobby will see characters from “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” complete with a dragon hanging from the ceiling. As they work their way toward the auditorium, they will come across Batman figures, an electronic Batcave and, of course, the Batmobile. There also is an insider’s insight into the Batcave for those who are big on the Batman genre.

Farther along, they will find the double-decker couch that played a key role in the initial Lego movie.

Although it took four days to assemble the movie set, it took months of planning and hundreds of hours of workmanship to make the idea into reality.

“We started March 19 behind the scenes,” said Kevin Mahan, LCBC community life director. “We had almost 320 people (working) here last week.

“You see this environment of people that are incredibly gracious and thankful for what’s in their life, and they want to help somebody else.”

Lego-like characters and their Lego-like world were built in locations donated by businesses in the Manheim area before being installed at the church.

The pastors use themes from various movies and intertwine them into the service, providing morals and lessons for churchgoers.

“It’s much like a sermon, but it’s a totally different environment,” Mahan said. “We’ll watch sections from a movie and eat popcorn while we’re watching it.”

The church has 11 campuses and is among the 20 largest megachurches in the country. Other campuses will feature “Jurassic Park,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Star Wars” in their lobbies.

The sets occupy church lobbies for five weeks, then are removed and stored to be used at different campuses the following year.

Some sets are lent to children’s hospitals or other charitable groups.

“One of our big values as a church is to continue to influence our community positively,” Mahan said. “So if we can benefit somebody, I’d love for them to call me. Eventually, we’ll be able to give some stuff away.”

Spoiler alert: As for the Batcave secret, the microwave has a crustacean in it. Every time Batman returned to the Batcave, he ate lobster thermidor.

“It becomes this funny call-out to the fans that are superfans of the movie,” Mahan said.

More details about movie month at LCBC can be found at lcbcchurch.com/at-the-movies.

Earle Cornelius writes about faith and values for LNP. He can be reached at 717-291-8738 or at ecornelius@lnpnews.com.